Battle of the Babes begins today

A draw is likely when St Sylvester's College take on Vidyartha College in the 55th 'Battle of the Babes' for the Rev Fr Dom George Trophy which will be played at the Asgiriya Stadium today and tomorrow (March 8 and 9). Play will start at 10 am each day.

St Sylvester's College – Seated from left: Roland Perera (Consultant Coach), Hemantha Ranasinghe (Master In Charge), Sumedha Dissanayake (Vice Captain), Ranil Meetiyagoda (Principal), Dushan Malalasena (Captain), A K B Dodanwela (Deputy Principal and Prefect of Games), Sankalpa Gunasekera (Coach). Middle row from left: Malith Prematillake, Upendra Palamakumbura, Upula Wishantha, Kasun Senaratne, Hansamal Perera, Dilan Mel, Indunil Samarananda, Mohammed Rifas, Harshana Madhushanka. Back row from left: Manujaya Perera, Nimesha Mendis, Tharindu Lakshan, Akalanka Dissanayake, Rajitha Piyaratne, Chamod Senaratne, Anthony Tyronne, Promod Buwaneka.

Vidyartha College - Seated from Left: Sanjaya de Silva (Coach), Muditha Elpitiya (Capitan), S Jayanatha (Master In Charge), P A S Alwis (Principal), G G Bandara (Deputy Principal), Kavindu Dissanayake (Vice Captain), Jayantha Kalugamage (Master In Charge). Middle row from left: Kasun Nawaratne, Chanaka Ratnayake, Isuru Weerasinghe, Chinthana Lokuliyana, Heshan Dissanayake, Avishka Ranaweera, Pathum Kolambage, Asantha Fernando, Upulitha Rajapaksa, Ruwan Ranaweera. Back row from left: Roshan Nanayakkara, Sahan Amerasinghe, Malaka Wickremaratne, Prince Roshan, Krishantha Jayasuriya, Dasun Nawaratne. Pictures by S M Jiffrey Abdeen Kandy Sports Correspondent

Of the 55 battles which had been fought out by the so-called babes, the Sylvestrians are well ahead with 13 wins against 3 by Vidyartha College while 39 matches have ended in draws.

The Sylvestrians last won in 2009 by a default by their opponents under Chanaka Colombage. When the Sylvestrians were on a victory course, there was a stoppage of play due to bad light.

Thirty minutes later the two umpires decided to resume play but the Vidyartha team did not take the field due to the tense situation which prevailed.

The match referee in consultation with the umpires awarded the match to St Sylvester's College which perhaps is unparalleled in the history of big matches. Vidyartha's last win came way back in 1967 under R M Lafir who retired as a Deputy Inspector General of Police a few years ago.

St Sylvester's College led by fourth year player Dushan Malalasena - a fine leg spinner and middle order batsman has not lived upto expectations and he should come good in this big match.

The Vice Captain of the side is fourth year coloursman and all-rounder Sumedha Dissanayake a left arm spinner who captured 65 wickets and scored 650 runs in last season has been handicapped by an injury to his bowling arm and though capturing 25 wickets and has hardly bowled this season. In most matches he played as a batsman.

Injuries to two other key players left arm spinner Nimesha Mendis who captured 92 wickets and all-rounder Harsha Wedikkara handicapped the Sylvestrians largely and this reflected on their performances. Sixteen-year-old Hansamal Perera is the highest run getter in the side scoring 560 runs including a century against D S Senanayake College. The Sylvestrians will look for a big innings from him in this match. The other batsman who swell the total are Manuja Perera, Indunil Samarananda, Dilan Mel and Tharindu Hashan.

The pace attack of the Sylvestrians is very brittle with Harsha Madhushan and Dushan Malalasena handling it before the spinners come on. Apart from Sumedha Dissanayake, Nimesha Mendis the other spinners in the side are off spinner Indunil Samarananda, Dilan Mel. They have played 15 matches won 0, lost 1 (St Peter's College) and drawn the rest. They are playing in the division one of the schools cricket tournament.

The coaching is handled by their consultant coach Roland Perera assisted by coach Sankalpa Gunasekara.

Vidyartha College is led by all-rounder and fourth year player Muditha Elpitiya who has scored over 600 runs and captured 25 wickets with his off spinners.

They are playing in the division two of the schools cricket tournament and have played 15 matches, won 4, lost 1 (Dharmaraja College) and drawn the rest.

They were at their best in their final outing when they took the honours against Moratu Vidyalaya by enforcing the follow on. Another fourth year player Ravindu Dissanayake is the Vice Captain of the side. A good right hand bat who scored over 680 runs during the season and his off spinners are sparing used.

Vidyartha College batsmen have been in good form this season with Kasun Nawaratne (675 runs), Avishka Ranaweera (450 runs), Heshan Dissanayke (300 runs), Malaka Wickremaratne (400 runs), Isuru Weerasinghe (300 runs) being their top run getters.

Vidyartha's pace attack will be in the hands of Isuru Weerasinghe (35 wickets) and Malaka Wickremaratne (20 wickets). But their main hope will be their left arm spinner Chanaka Ratnayake who has been among the wickets in the last few matches and has captured over 50 wickets including a 9 wicket haul in an innings. The other spinners in the side are Avishka Ranaweera (off spin), Ravindu Dissanayake (off spin), Dasun Nawaratne (off spin).

The team is coached by Sanjaya de Silva with Jayantha Kalugamage as the Master In Charge.